VAGCOM owners - list your location here!

[naheem]

nemo
From Rochdale
England nr manchester

[trainer]

Shawnee, KS (KC Metro Area)

Also have:

Older 2 plug adapter

Bentley for:
A1
Corrado
A4

[paramedick]

Home is Versailles, KY. No charge.

E Mail address in profile, and best way to contact me. Leave me a phone #, and I will get back to you.

Modified by paramedick at 8:30 PM 1-4-2006


Modified by paramedick at 8:31 PM 1-4-2006

[snydema1]

Brookfield, CT

[fosspanzer]

Lakewood, OH (west side of Cleveland)

[zbwmy]

Need to use a VAGCOM in Nashua, NH to Vag lights and seat chime for a 2004 R32.

Could not find an easy way to locate one

Mark

[16vCorey]

Lancaster, Pa.

[francismartin]

This is great, share the VAG-COM and put Ross-Tech out of business, then we can all go to any dealer we want! By then it will be $150 per scan.

No, I'm not tied to Ross-Tech but going cheap gets you what you pay for . . . find anyting not made in China lately? We are putting Americans out of work, you're helping to hurt the little guy when you don't support people like Ross-Tech.

[jbrams]

Ross-tech did not indend each of their units to only be used on one car and it is not to Ross-tech's benefit to have individual mechanics charge $65/hour just to scan our codes. Mechanics will still need scanners even if every person who posted here shared their tool with 50 other people, and people who only need one or two scans over the life of their car need not spend $400 on a scanner.

Further, this is not about non-USA made products or the costs and benefits of outsourcing (I'll bet many components in ross-tech's tools were developed and continue to be produced in Asian countries at a cost benefit to Ross-tech). If you don't want to share your scanner you are not obliged to, but the reasons for not sharing which you provided are baseless.

If ross-tech believed that this was a threat to their business they could have it removed from their sponsored forum in a moment, online forums are commercial enterprizes which do not guarantee complete freedom of speech, they are allowed to limit content here. But ross-tech and the opperators of vortex let this thread continue. If anything this makes more people aware of their product and promotes purchases.

Thank you everyone for contributing and sharing your tools with yoru fellow vortexer's as you might with a friendly neighbor in need of any tool from a screwdriver to a computer printer ... sharing does not threaten workers in the USA, if anything it helps many like them by preventing our workers from paying mechanic's high fees.

I'll start another thread for this debate here:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1770145

Thanks,
Abe

EDIT: the question was answered by the ross-tech representative on the above discussion thread, his reply was:

Question: Is it appropriate usage for one person to offers to scan other's cars for error codes for free or small cost (6 pack)?
Answer: Yes. However, if there's a charge, even a 6-pack, then it must be a legitimately registered version.

Questions: (2) Do you, or Ross-tech as a company view this use as detrimental to business?
(3) Also, will this usage result in lost jobs or income for the company employees or the company as a whole?

Answers: 2 & 3) I think at least some people will end up buying their own after they've seen it in use. To be honest, I don't know whether it's a net gain (do to the free "advertising" of people seeing it in use on their own cars) or whether it's a net loss, because fewer people buy it if they can go to someone else's house to get their cars scanned for free. Having your own is certainly more convenient.

Basically, it's fine with them for anyone to scan other's cars for free and use a registered version of the software if you're charging anyone anything. And they don't really know for certain or care if this means they get free advertizing or if it means a few less people get their excellent tools.

Hope that puts everyone's ethical radar at ease. Please continue to share your great tools!


Modified by jbrams at 3:43 PM 1-9-2005

[TexasVWdriver]

Quote, originally posted by francismartin »

This is great, share the VAG-COM and put Ross-Tech out of business...blah blah blah

Did you ever stop and think that some people might want to see a demonstration of how the product is used before they purchace it?

Did you ever stop and think that maybe if someone gets one free scan from a buddy that it might convince them to purchace a copy of VAG-COM for themselves?

Take your OT whining and crying somewhere else. This thread has ONE purpose. To let everyone know who has VAG-COM and where they are located.

[opiesmith]

S. W. Washington (greater Vancouver area) here

[PapaBear]

Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada here with a MK4 Bentley manual and VAG Key-Com w/laptop

[SleeprVR6]

[silentdub]

Christiana Delaware

free check

[MKIII-JP]

Two locations!!!

Glendale Heights ILL_ANNOY~~ far west burbs!
Mentor OHIO~~and for that matter the east side to akron north!

I LOVE THIS TOOL
best tool investment EVER, and I am a dealer tech

email for assistance

[MecInsulator]

Tivoli , NY
Red Hook , NY

free check

[Erotas]

Sydney, Australia.

[Gigitt]

HEX-USB+CAN in Sydney Australia

[VdubPimpin]

Claremont Ca-pomona lavern upland rancho azuza covia areas

[jhayesvw]

Tucson Arizona.

[Peter Tong]

Kentwood, MI

[jbrams]

bump

[jasonsp6]

Been listed on steve-hall for years... and TDI Club

Monroe, NY

HexCom + 2x2 adapter.

[thewally]

Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

[capthowdy_1968]

St Augustine, FL (South of Jacksonville)
Can scan OBD1 and OBD2.

[Mykr]

25 minutes North of Denver.
Frederick, CO

[evilmrkiplng]

Manchester England, Representing the UK Baby, Yeah!

[h2ovwdrvr]

Kalispell Montana

[tjwasiak]

Warsaw, Poland

[jimk75]

Beack Lake PA (NE of Scranton)

[alaskagreenjetta]

Beach Park, IL and because of my VAG people liked it so much I think a couple people I know picked it up themselves.

[magman]

Quote »

This is great, share the VAG-COM and put Ross-Tech out of business, then we can all go to any dealer we want! By then it will be $150 per scan. No, I'm not tied to Ross-Tech but going cheap gets you what you pay for . . . find anyting not made in China lately? We are putting Americans out of work, you're helping to hurt the little guy when you don't support people like Ross-Tech.

I don't agree.
I have scanned maybe 20 other cars besides my own.
This has lead to maybe 10 of the owners buying their own Vac-com systems because they were so impressed with the system.



Modified by magman at 5:51 AM 5-6-2005

[Illegal Gardener]

Quote, originally posted by magman »

I don't agree. I have scanned maybe 20 other cars besides my own. This has lead to maybe 10 of the owners buying their own Vac-com systems because they were so impressed with the system. Modified by magman at 5:51 AM 5-6-2005

exactly. it is a great product, and with the demeanor most dealers have towards modding, any modified vw / audi / etc needs one. sometimes it takes actually seeing it work for you to justify the $ for some people.

i hold 2 general opinions on this issue in general:

1. if an individual can steal, share or otherwise exploit a product without paying the proprieter, then while the individual may technically be wrong, it's the proprieter's fault for not making fail-safes against theft inherrent in their product. Neither the U.S. government or any corporation/s has the resources to track down every single little guy, so if proprietors do not want their products / services stolen, they need to take measures to protect themselves. again, while the individual that steals the product / service is definitely wrong, one has to realize that from the individual's perspective, the unprotected product is just like a 20 dollar bill sitting on the sidewalk, there's a driving force that tells you that it must be picked up: it requires no thought. as for letting others use your product, like, sharing a vag-com, i don't see anything wrong with it at all. it lets others know how useful it is, and the company allows it through their software. jeez, there's hundreds of back-yard mechanics and little shops that buy their software and charge $50 bucks or more for a scan and clear, and they can do that with the trial version and a 50 dollar 3rd party cable. i'm sure ross-tech knew this would happen, and they chose not to limit or at least make it more difficult to scan multiple cars with one setup, so why contest it?

2. on the flip-side, most individuals are either not able or willing to participate in pirating, theft, etc.... which is why the music industry hasn't keeled over and died. while there will always be people looking to save a buck by cheating the system, the vast majority of people are more than willing to shell the $ to support the proprietor, or save themselves the headache of figuring it out / don't know how, or because they plain don't believe in stealing. ross-tech isn't going to collapse because some people are using 3rd party cables with their old software.

i respect the fact that many people resent the idea that ross-tech is getting ripped off by people scanning everyone elses cars, but i disagree with that.
VAG-COM is a wonderful product, and i feel that scanning other people for free or for $ is acceptable... also because like magman eluded to: people will be more inclined to buy the stuff when they see how good it is and easy it is to use.

its a shame they didnt come out with the usb interface with the internal key in the first place.... having key encoded hardware is one of the best ways to prevent piracy. look at the software companies that charge 50-100,000 for their licenses, and see how they do it.... its the same thing


Modified by Illegal Gardener at 2:59 PM 5-6-2005

[jbrams]

Thanks agains for everyone's contributions!

The issue of whether or not Ross Tech is okay with/benefits from/loses sales from sharing their devices has come up on this thread before ... their answer was basically, go for it unless you're charging someone for it, then you need to have a valid software licence.

For the details and for any further discussion please refer to and post at:
http://forums.vwvortex.com/zerothread?id=1770145

Here's my earlier post on the subject:

Quote, originally posted by jbrams »

I started this thread because I didn't want to pay the dealer $125 to tell me nothing was wrong. I knew there was something screwy with my automatic transmission, and after asking around in the appropriate forums, I was told to try having the codes pulled to get more info. I'm tight on cash like most vortexers it seems, and I wanted to see if someone could pull my codes (other than the dealer). In the end a mechanic did it for free assuming that there would be something wrong which I would want him to fix (I have an appointment for monday, though no codes came up after a scan). The problem with saying, "just buy one" is that most VW owners don't even know what a VAGCOM is, they don't change their own oil and believe VW dealers when they claim that your transmission fluid never needs to be changed. For them and those with just slightly more know-how, a couple hundred bucks for a vag-tool is pretty costly. I'm glad so many people are volunteering their vag-tools, I hope this continues and that people posting here also post at the larger list already mentioned a couple times: http://www.steve-hall.com/cgi-bin/VAG-Locator.pl Really, this is one of the friendliest communities online, thanks to everyone who's sharing their VAGCOMs, time, DIY guides, and know-how! Abe PS - for anyone who's interested in what else you can buy for $200: http://webpages.csus.edu/~djga...y.htm http://people.brandeis.edu/~teuber/singermag.html http://www.phil.vt.edu/garnar/theory

[ZinK]

Enough with the BS about using your Vag-Com on others cars. It is like saying that any garage that loans you an impact gun is wrong and that you should go buy your own from Snap-on.

Grow up. Ross-Tech sells a pro kit to garages for $900. After looking at the site, Ross-Tech does not say anywhere that a garage can not use its Vag-Com tool without buying the $900 set. My local VW dealer uses a Vag-Com because it is more user freindly. So is it wrong if a dealer buys a diagnostic tool so that every customer does not need said tool???

This argument is absolute stupidity. Next time you borrow your freinds screwdriver, remember you are costing snapon money...

Insane guys, insane.

If you have a further problem with sharing Vag-Com's, take it to a new thread. This is a thread for locations.

Dave